Great Falls tribune. [volume] (Great Falls, Mont.) 1885-1890, 1887-01-01
G. 2. slMs' DRAMATIC METHOD.
Planning the story-Buiidi.sg 1t Up-
Dialogue and Completion.
[Pal Mall Gayatte.l

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[Pall Mall Gazatte.l
When I get a commission to write 6
play the first thing | do, as a rule, IS to
decline it. because | know it means from
three to six months of mental misery
and a long period of physical prostra-
ton after the work is finished. | have
declined six commissions within the las:
few months, because l dread the task so
much. Writing a play is the most ex-
hausting and the most distressing OF all
forms Of literary labor l have yet tried,
and | have tried my hand at a good
many branches of the profession. When
| have conquered my repugnance so far
IS to undertake a play, however, this is
how I proceed. l begin to plan my
story, building it up scene by scene.
This I write out in a book, and alter and
alter until | have a clear story which i
tan tell act by act to a friend, taking
| care to let the end Of each act be as eff
fectiye as possible.
AS soon as the story is clear I begin to
look at the motives which actuate the
villain and. the hero. II these are weak,
{ cast about for stronger ones. When I
think that the motives are those that
will account reasonably for all that hap
pens, l set to work to write the play
that is to say, l complete the piece act
by act, writing in the dialogue as | pro-
ceed. .Playwriting is both an art and a
| trick. There are certain tricks of the
trade'' which, being unknown, lead the
greatest artist into difficulties. An
audience must be written for, not at,
- J.Gco-,-4 o-I,o-a,. o1,,sn I,ffo~
ent treatment. A play which
would be an enormous success at
one house. would be a failure at another.
1t is, therefore, essential to bear in
mind the house you are writing your
play for, and pay attention to all the
points which are known to tell best with
those who will pay their money to be
amused at the theater for which your
play il intended. The great secret OF
sgccess in dramatic work / believe to be
the knowledge Of what not to write.
Hall the plays that fail, do SO be
cause among the good stuff there is that
which annoys an audience, Or distractl
its attention from the main points Of the
tory. l endeavor as far as possible tx
remove every element of danger from
u play WITCH i udSt WIltttu II. "A ilIl'
that is capable of a double meaning, ha'
wrecked a play at a critical point mort
than once, and a dangerous sentimen
has often turned the scale against thu
author, at a moment when a safe senti
ment would have turned it in his favor
/ am writing of course of that branch o
play writing which [ practice-ordinar,
melodrama. Grand poetical plays, wher
the language and the main idea carr.
the listener up into a region removes
from the hustle and strife of ordinar,
life, are not judged by the same rules
The absurdity of q situation or a1senti
ment is lost sight of, because the audi
ence, never having lived in the clouds
cannot judge what they hear or see b
their own experience. But in melo
drama, where the most exciting s:tua
tons, and the strongest passions Of hu
man nature are dealt with, the creates
care is necessary to see that the thin lin
which separates the sublime frem tn
ridiculous is net overstepped.